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623 entries for
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χ
610
Χύτραν ποικίλλειν
to decorate a cooking-pot
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to things that are impossible. And things that are endless.
Matched in translation
high
short
α
842
Ἀκεσίας ἰάσατο
Akesias healed
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those who heal for the worse. It seems that Akesias treated someone for the worse.
Matched in translation
high
short
α
4438
Αὐλητοῦ βίον ζῇς
you are living a piper's life
[sc. A
proverbial
saying] in reference to those living from means not their own; insofar as pipers live for free by watching out for those who are sacrificing.
Matched in translation
meter and music
meter and music
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high
short
αι
125
Αἰθίοπα σμήχειν
to wash an Ethiopian white
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those exerting vain efforts.
Matched in translation
high
short
ε
49
Ἐγένετο καὶ Μάνδρωνι συκίνη ναῦς
even Mandron got a fig-wood ship
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] used in reference to those who have been fortunate beyond their hopes and deserts, and then give themselves airs at their present circumstances. For Mandron was chosen admiral amongst Athenians, …
Matched in translation
high
short
α
1194
Ἄλλην δρῦν βαλάνιζε
shake acorns from another oak
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those continually begging something or always borrowing from the same people. And [there is] another
proverb:
enough of oak. In reference to those eating something with difficulty …
Matched in translation
high
short
α
3668
Ἀπώλεσας τὸν οἶνον ἐπιχέας ὕδωρ
you ruined the wine by pouring in water
[sc. A
proverbial
saying] in reference to those who make a mess of things that were previously going well by means of some small fault. Or in reference to those who get what they …
Matched in translation
high
short
αι
69
Αἰγὸς τρόπον
goat-fashion, like a goat
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those who bring an evil on themselves. From a Corinthian
proverb,
"The nanny-goat giving the knife."
Matched in translation
high
short
γ
432
Γραῦς χορεύει
an old woman is dancing
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those who do something out of season; for dancing is appropriate [only] for young women. Also [sc. attested is] "old women's chatterings", the
proverb
in reference to …
Matched in translation
high
short
δ
1076
Δικαιότερον σταχάνης
more just than a stachane
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those who love justice; for stachane is what the Dorians call a pair of scales, perhaps by a link with stasis. And [there is] another [version of …
Matched in translation
high
short
ε
814
Ἐλέφαντα ἐκ μυίας ποιεῖν
to make an elephant out of a fly
[sc. A
proverbial
saying] in reference to those whose words exalt trivial things and make them great. In Lucian's In Praise of a Fly: "in case I seem, as the
proverb
has it, to …
Matched in translation
high
short
ει
314
Εἰς τέφραν γράφειν
to write on ashes
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to impossible things. "I think I should write his oaths on ashes, as the
proverb
says."
Matched in translation
high
short
α
1388
Ἀλωπεκίζειν
to play the fox
… 1), where it is presented as an already-existing song or
proverb.
Zenobius (1.70) and other paroemiographers present both
proverb
and gloss more fully: "to play the fox to another fox: in reference to those …
Matched in notes
high
short
β
175
Βάτα Κάρας
Bata Karas, Batakaras
Likewise in Apostolius 4.75. Hesychius (beta312) and Appendix
Proverbiorum
1.49 provide more detail: this
proverbial
expression was reportedly inscribed on a votive offering in the temple of Hera on Samos. All four sources allude …
Matched in notes
high
short
β
266
Βησᾶς ἕστηκεν οἷον ἀχανής
Besas stands as if gaping
Versions of this
proverb
appear in several of the paroemiographic collections e.g. Appendix
Proverbiorum
1.54 ( = E.L. Leutsch and F.G. Schneidewin, Paroemiographi Graeci, vol. 1, appendix, p. 387, no. 54), where the verb …
Matched in notes
high
short
η
286
Ἤμβροτεν
missed (the mark or goal)
… succeeding or hitting the mark through its use in two
proverbs.
Eustathius describes them as follows. " 'You missed and did not hit' (h)/mbrotes oud’ e)/tuxes, Iliad 5.287) is
proverbial
for those who fail …
Matched in notes
high
short
α
281
Ἁγνότερος πηδαλίου
purer than a steering-oar
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those who have lived pure lives; inasmuch as the steering-oar is always in the sea.
Matched in translation
high
short
α
371
Ἀγροῦ πυγή
rump of the country; fat of the land
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to the comfortably-off and those attending perseveringly to some kind of task.
Matched in translation
high
short
α
1303
Ἅλμη οὐκ ἔνεστ' αὐτῷ
there is no salt in him; there is no sauce in him
[sc. A
proverbial
saying] in reference to the sour and unpleasant [man].
Matched in translation
high
short
α
1391
Ἀλώπηξ οὐ δωροδοκεῖται
a fox does not take bribes
[sc. A
proverbial
saying] in reference to those not easily won over by bribes. Cratinus in Laws [writes]: "each one of you is a fox who takes bribes"
Matched in translation
high
short
α
2536
Ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπου δαιμόνιον
man (is) man's divinity
A
proverb
in reference to those who are unexpectedly saved by a man and who are popular because of them. Also [sc. attested are the phrases] 'a man [like the] Euripos', 'fortune [like the] …
Matched in translation
high
short
α
2570
Ἄννος κρίβανον
Annos (and) the potter's oven
A
proverb
in reference to those discovering something new. For Annos was an Egyptian who contrived the potter's oven for the baking of bread.
Matched in translation
high
short
α
3234
Ἁπλοῦν θύλακον πάτει
treads a single sack
[sc. A
proverbial
saying] in reference to people/things easily despised.
Matched in translation
high
short
α
3428
Ἀπὸ λύκου θύρας
from a wolf's door
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those who go away immediately without accomplishing anything. But some [say it] in reference to rough and savage people.
Matched in translation
high
short
α
3471
Ἀπὸ πέντε ἅλλεσθαι πετρῶν εἰς κῦμα
to leap from five rocks into a wave
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those who because of what they are suffering prefer to throw themselves into some difficulty.
Matched in translation
high
short
α
3770
Ἀργείους ὁρᾷς
you see Argives
A
proverbial
saying in reference to those who see keenly and astonishingly [well].
Matched in translation
high
short
α
3990
Ἀρουραία μάντις
field mantis
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those who are sluggish and ineffectual. There is a clumsy locust, green, called a mantis, whose movements some heed and [thereby] prophesy. The aroura contains 50 feet.
Matched in translation
high
short
α
4043
Ἄρτι μῦς πίττης γεύεται
finally the mouse is tasting pitch
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those who come late on to a realization of where they are.
Matched in translation
high
short
α
4101
Ἀρχὴ Σκυρία
Skyrian empire, Scyrian empire
[sc. A
proverbial
phrase] in reference to those who are paltry and possess nothing worthwhile. Inasmuch as Skyros, rocky and dreary and accordingly poor, produces nothing worth mentioning. Some [say], though, [that it comes] …
Matched in translation
high
short
α
4582
Ἀφέντες τὴν ὑπέραν τὸν πόδα διώκουσιν
they let go the brace and chase the sheet
[sc. A
proverbial
saying] in reference to those who abandon necessities and favour superfluities instead. In Hyperides.
Matched in translation
high
short
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